Slipknot is riding high in 2019! The band’s new album We Are Not Your Kind just hit number one on the billboard 200 chart, and their Knotfest Road Show tour has been selling out arenas across the country.
We were able to catch up with the tour in Bonner Springs, Kansas Saturday (8/17) along with nearly 18,000 other fans! From front to back the house was packed as the boys from Iowa tore the house down.
With four bands on the bill the show had an early 5:30 start time and let me tell you the sun was a beast. The first band up Behemoth had to have been sweltering wearing all black with leather and hoods and white corpse paint. The metal gods from Poland punished the crowd with brutal blast beats, crushing riffs, and guttural screams. Behemoth also had some pretty cool theatrics like fire sticks and spitting blood. I’m not really one for European death metal, but I had a pretty good time watching Behemoth and I could see why Slipknot decided to take them out.
After Behemoth were the Frenchmen Gojira. This band has been making moves the past few years and their song “Stranded” from 2016’s Magma is still receiving regular radio airplay, at least in the Midwest anyway. Even though the crowd was feeling the heat Gojira got people moving. Several circle pits opened up right from the start. With no breaks the band pushed through the nasty weather and left folks wanting more. At the end of the set, lead singer Joe said the band has a new album in the works and would be back to tour the Midwest soon, so look forward to that.
Next up was the alternative pop-rock group Volbeat. I had the pleasure of seeing Volbeat when they opened for Godsmack back in April and that show was really awesome. Of the two bands, Volbeat definitely stole the show. Did Volbeat have a repeat and steal the show here in Kansas? Hahaha, no! Volbeat did do an awesome job of keeping the crowd energy up and dishing out the hits, but they had nothing on the mighty Slipknot.
After Volbeat, a giant Slipknot curtain was hoisted up signaling the time for chaos would soon be upon us. After what seemed like forever, a loud guitar riff rang out and the banner popped and the masters of metal were revealed!
After going to hundreds of shows over the last 20 years I’ve seen all types of stage production, but I have to say, Slipknot may have one of the craziest setups I’ve ever witnessed. There were two stories of risers, three different drum sets, a moving conveyer belt and L.E.D. screens everywhere.
Right out of the gate Slipknot was ready to destroy with the song “People = S#*t.” Multiple mosh pits broke out and thousands pushed their way forward to get a glimpse of the masked musicians. Corey and the guys were firing on all cylinders as they ripped through an awesome setlist covering the majority of the band’s six album catalog.
Corey stopped several times to thank everyone for coming and to say how proud they were to be playing in the Midwest. “My front door is only three hours from here.” “They say that rock and metal is dead, well look behind you.” Looking back from the stage area you couldn’t see the end of the crowd, there were so many people.
With awesome background videos and just the right amount of pyro Slipknot put on one of the best shows we’ve seen this year. The band is going to be busy for the rest of the year with many more U.S. tour dates leading into a small Australia run and even a stop in Ecuador.
Slipknot’s chart topping album We Are Not Your Kind is available now.
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